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Marijuana is much safer than alcohol or tobacco, according to a new study Marijuana is roughly 114 times less deadly than alcohol, according to recent findings published in the journal Scientific Reports. Of the seven drugs included in the study, alcohol was the deadliest at an individual level, followed by heroin, cocaine, tobacco, ecstasy, methamphetamines, and marijuana. Previous studies consistently ranked marijuana as the safest recreational drug, but it was not known that the discrepancy was this large. The researchers determined the mortality risk by comparing a lethal dose of each substance with the amount typically used. Not only was...

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson is campaigning to win the White House as a Libertarian after receiving scant attention in the Republican presidential race. Johnson easily became the party's presidential nominee at the Libertarian national convention in Las Vegas on Saturday. He hopes to appeal to voters fed up with the traditional two-party system this November. SNIP He won 74 percent of the vote on the first ballot in Las Vegas, an unusual showing of support. SNIP

Colorado Springs State Bank was last in state publicly doing business with the industry . The last bank in the state of Colorado that was publicly doing business with the medical marijuana industry decided it will be closing all of those accounts by the end of September, leaving dispensaries across the state scrambling. The Colorado Springs State Bank sent out a letter last week to its medical marijuana account holders requesting them to have their bank accounts closed by Sept. 30. "There are unresolved issues with regulations, law enforcement and other agencies that need to get resolved before the industry...

"If we cannot destroy the drug menace in America, then it will surely in time destroy us," President Richard Nixon told Congress in a special message on June 17, 1971, which generally is credited as the day the "war on drugs" began. Actually, Nixon didn't use the term "war on drugs" in the address. He used it later. And while Nixon talked tough about going after drug traffickers, he emphasized that rehabilitation would be a priority as he dedicated the lion's share -- $105 million of $155 million in new anti-drug funding -- "solely for the treatment and rehabilitation of...

Okay - I wanted to to post, occasionnaly, on DU, so I set up an account. My Hotmail account put it in the "Junk" file...hee heee.

We have recently heard many shocking stories of brutal killings and ruthless violence related to drug cartels warring with Mexican and US officials. It is approaching the fever pitch of a full blown crisis. Unfortunately, the administration is not likely to waste this opportunity to further expand government. Hopefully, we can take a deep breath and look at history for the optimal way to deal with this dangerous situation, which is not unprecedented. Alcohol prohibition in the 1920’s brought similar violence, gangs, lawlessness, corruption and brutality. The reason for the violence was not that making and selling alcohol was inherently...

Video of Ron Paul debating Stephen Baldwin about the legalization of marijuana on Larry King Live March 13, 2009.

SARASOTA -- A group pushing to legalize marijuana plans to march at noon today as part of the annual Global Marijuana March. The Florida Cannabis Action Network will hold signs at Fruitville Road and Washington Boulevard, making Sarasota one of 232 cities around the world taking part. The group calls for the end to all cannabis arrests and the legalization of cannabis for recreation, medicine, food, fiber, agriculture and fuel. Cannabis needs no pesticides and little fertilizer, is the strongest natural fiber known to man and can be used as an alternative fuel, the group says. The same group rallied...

Brad Westerwelle: Putting addicts in prison for pot is senseless A letter to the editor Dear Editor: In May 2005 I was found in possession of two bags of marijuana totaling nine grams, and am now labeled as a drug dealer and given a sentence of 48 months probation that includes two years in prison if the probation is revoked. I have spent most of the last year and a half in and out of jail for dirty urinalysis tests because I have a drug addiction. Now I'm facing revocation for smoking marijuana. They say I'm a danger to society...

Man picks wrong spot when nature calls 8 minutes ago CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Sometimes when nature calls, there's no time to delay, but a Kentucky man sure picked the wrong spot for a pit stop. Michael Ray Hunter, 37, found out Wednesday night that the parking lot of the West Virginia State Police headquarters in South Charleston isn't the right spot. Trooper J.S. Crane just happened to be walking nearby as Hunter was relieving himself. As Crane approached, he smelled alcohol. That discovery led Crane to the pickup truck where Hunter's buddy, James Alan Richardson, 40, was checking phone messages....

This is the first time I have posted in 2 years. I believe there can be a relatively peaceful transition in Cuba by taking lessons from an old Jewish parable said by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov about 350 years ago. The name of the parable is The Turkey Prince, and I reccomend that y'all read it at www.nachalnovea.com/breslovcenter/articles/article_tprince.html . My comments are thus: I believe there will be at least 3 stages of transition of Cuba to Free Cuba. 1) The Chinese model will first be used, with economic liberalization and some loosening of social controls, but with raul fully...

Police are losing the war against pot and it’s time to make it legal and regulate the cultivation and use of it, says Eugene Oscapella, an Ottawa University criminology teacher who co-founded the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy. Police say the number and size of local marijuana operations they’re discovering is increasing. In the last several weeks, police have laid charges after discovering more than $43-million worth of marijuana, mostly from four big busts. Monday West Grey police discovered another $1.3-million worth of marijuana growing south of Flesherton. The biggest of recent busts have often involved young, Asia men. Police...

I was sorry the headline didn't say "Beaten to Death."

Washington -- Hundreds of suit-and-tie-clad marijuana advocates feasted on chicken Kiev and Petite Sirah on Capitol Hill on Wednesday night in what may have been the most button-down gathering of pot enthusiasts in history. The music was contemporary jazz, not reggae. The dessert was a caramel parfait with chocolate drizzle, not Oreos. And the featured Cheech and Chong video was a snippet of a documentary on actor Tommy Chong's recent imprisonment. The event, a strictly nonsmoking affair that drew members of Congress, a prominent television talk show host, and seasoned Washington operatives, was a mainstream coming-out of sorts for the...

'This ain't working,' boys declare before taking more-- Six Kirby Middle School students downed strong doses of tranquilizers and passed out in class Thursday. Students said the six boys took several pills before getting dizzy and dropping out of their desks or falling down by lockers. They were taken to Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center about 9:15 a.m., Memphis City Schools spokesman Vince McCaskill said. Their injuries weren't life-threatening. The school at 6670 E. Raines has about 1,200 students in grades 6-8. "It wasn't six students at one time, it was one and then another one. They were in different...

George W. Bush is a lesson to us all. He tells us that no matter how stupid, ignorant, or greedy you are, you can get the most powerful job in the World. That drives me.. Take Kyoto. A global agreement to lower gases that have created global warming and weather instability. George, my hero, is the only leader in the World to say that he would have nothing to do with this agreement. There's ignorance! The poor people of Florida are currently feeling the consequence of this, but hey, there's money at stake here. Take stupid....The evil man (Osama) who...

Are you feeling screwed, blued and tattooed because the man slipped it to you? Like, stay loose, hit the pad and share a thumb with your pash. Huh? If that made no sense to you, check out "The Hippie Dictionary" by John McCleary. Using the new book to translate, readers come up with the more conventional: Are you feeling mistreated by the authorities? Relax, go home to bed and share a very large marijuana cigarette with your significant other." Those expecting the dictionary, published by Ten Speed Press, to be a stodgy reference work are in for a jolt. McCleary's...

Is anyone of the Democratic persuasion welcome here, or are you crazy Republicans going to kick me off? Do any of you know how freaking ridiculous things are getting with George Bush in office? Let's do the list: assaults the environment, rising unemployment, rising gas prices, rising hatred of us across the globe, a phony war with over 700 Americans dead, POW torture, overtime pay almost done away with.....the list goes on and on. It's CRAZY.

CHICAGO -- Habitual marijuana use increased among U.S. adults over the past decade, particularly among young minorities and baby boomers, government figures show. The prevalence of marijuana abuse or dependence climbed from 1.2 percent of adults in 1991-92 to 1.5 percent in 2001-02, or an estimated 3 million adults 18 and over. That represents an increase of 800,000 people, according to data from two nationally representative surveys that each queried more than 40,000 adults. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, the rate of abuse or dependence remained stable among whites but surged by about 220 percent among black men and women, to...

May 4, 2004 UCSC sociologist says making pot legal does not boost use By ANNA GOSLINE Sentinel Correspondent SANTA CRUZ — A leading critic of U.S. drug policy contends there is no link between the decriminalization of marijuana and increased drug use. In research published in the May issue of the American Journal of Public Health, Craig Reinarman, a UC Santa Cruz sociologist, said he found there was no difference between drug-use rates in Amsterdam, where marijuana is freely bought at licensed coffee shops, and San Francisco, where pot-smokers still can get busted. "Drug policy doesn’t appear to have much...